Andrea Laurent & Elis Feola

Count money, man.

Money, man.

Stacked riches.

I'm trying to told him I'm a beast, but...

What's up gang?

Welcome back to another episode of The Grindcast.

Get ready.

It's a new day and had a unique podcast for you.

Had a chance to spend time with a power couple for us down in Florida.

They've been doing a good job.

Ellison, Andrea, and just wanted to get some of their feedback on the business and how

they do it together as a couple.

I thought it would add value to some of you out there.

Hopefully you guys enjoy it.

Let me know what you think.

Take a listen.

All right.

We have Ellis and Andrea, two of our absolute superstars that were a force all by themselves,

but super powerful together.

This is the real definition of a power couple right here.

Why don't I start out with the ladies first.

And so Andrea has had a ton of success with us.

Why don't you speak to a little bit of maybe what it takes, what type of female, because

if I could have a hundred of you or a thousand of you, we'd be in better shape, right?

So what do you think traits of strong women do well in this business?

Yeah.

Women in general are strong species, I would say.

But you have to definitely be independent.

You have to be self-sufficient, you know, even though we like to rely and have someone

there for us.

It takes a woman who can do on her own.

Grit, I would say, is something that we have to look for when it comes to a woman that

not just tells us she's going to do something, but can go through the trials of what we have,

you know, because it's a brand new language for some people.

It's a brand new type of career for some people, some people have never been in sales.

But it takes a lot of communication as well.

Communication that when you're talking to families especially, you know, you're never

going to get the same family for any appointment, right?

So being able to mow yourself with just understanding.

And I think that's a huge trait that can help women and men is like understanding, taking

the time, but making sure that we also control our energy when it comes to being, you know,

successful in who we sign up, successful in time management.

Because I think when I first started for sure, I took a lot of time with some families.

And I had to learn like, okay, it's just me.

I am being coached, right?

But I have to learn how to level out my personal life and my work life and what does matter.

Okay.

So we definitely got to look for women that are self-sufficient, that are independent, that

are also coachable.

You spoke about controlling the mindset and the emotions a little bit.

I think a lot of what attracts strong men and women is that you get to control your own

income and control your own avenue versus somebody else's responsible, you know, for your success.

Is that something that you think attracted you to the industry and to the business at all?

2000 percent.

Yes.

Being in control of your own destiny and making as much as you want to make.

Of course.

And just I knew that it wasn't a be the only cap that I was going to have as a cap on my

own mind, right?

Because if I saw that if you put in the work and you, you know, adjusted and maneuvered

how you needed to get better at the skill, there's no way that you could lose.

100%.

You know, I remember meeting Ellis on my family vacation.

And I was on my family vacation.

And thank God for having a supportive spouse.

You know, she knows this is not a balance.

It's a blending of this is just what we do.

And truly, you know, some people would say this, I think, just because it sounds cool.

Like, and I hope people feel this and I hope you feel this.

To me, really, it's not even much about the money anymore.

Yeah, I like to make more money and break new records and all that stuff.

It's more about how can we impact other people?

And so I think my wife and everybody knows that that's the mission.

Yeah.

And so there's never this like hard line all the time.

You know, if the spirit is flowing and it's like, hey, this is what I'm supposed to do.

Usually the support is there.

And so I remember getting a call from Spence, you know, and he's like, hey, man, I got

a superstar that I think you need to meet.

And I remember you coming to the pink hotel, the Don Caesar hotel.

Yes, sir.

And I met you and thank God, you know, that we took some time out for one another because

I could tell you, hopefully, you know, you feel the same.

But I know our business has been better because of you.

And you've inspired so many people, the first person to break over $100,000 in business

you were a Roger Bannister.

Yes, sir.

You know, Roger Bannister is the guy that broke the four minute mile for the first time.

And after that, other people started to do it.

Before that, they thought you would die if you ran a four minute mile.

Once he proved that it can happen, other people follow, but there's only one first, you know,

in that year.

That's your man.

And then, you know, aside from that, you were also like, the story is like being that

walk on in a sense because you didn't VIP, right?

Right.

And then, you know, you know, you didn't VIP in our business, you know, there's a certain

number that new people, rookies can hit.

And if you hit that number, we call it a VIP.

And it's inspiring for people, you know, I think that, you know, I use this.

I'm going to use it for years and years to come to encourage other people that, hey,

just because you don't VIP don't mean you can't end up like, you know, like Ellis.

So what do you think turned it, you know, for you from going from, you know, a not VIP

to a first round draft pick?

You know, that's such a great question.

That's what people ask me all the time.

And at the end of the day, I used that as fuel for that.

You know, I literally have texts on my phone with Spencer from when I started of like, you

know, I know God is using this story for a reason.

My slow start for a reason it gives me chills now to think about because it all came

full circle.

And I'm able to help people and use that to this day just yesterday.

I was talking with someone about it of like how I never VIP.

But that's exactly why I got it.

Like I would have never gotten to a hundred K in a month if I didn't not be I go through

the struggle.

If I didn't go through the struggle in the first place.

And I don't think a lot of people realize that because for me to do that, it took, it

had to be bigger than money.

It had to be more than just the production and this and that.

I had to prove something to myself because I had it so in my head of like I can't do this

job.

But I was frustrated because I saw people being able to do it.

Yep.

And I said, you know what, if people can do it.

And obviously I had a conversation with Brian Caliruso when I was first starting of like

hey, I hadn't even made a sale yet but I told them I'm not going to quit until I'm the best

at this because I see yo ass doing it.

So at the end of the day, you know, I used that as fuel and they always say you know,

you never VIP this that, but that's exactly why I did it.

If I didn't VIP, I would have never had that grit, that hunger, that drive to want to

write a hundred K.

It meant the world to me.

So I think the reason, you know, what I would go to is like most people quit.

Yeah.

If they're in that circumstance.

So you know, why wouldn't you quit?

It sounds like to me, you know, the belief came from if this person can do it, I know I'm

going to end up doing it because your self could do it.

Right?

So was that a lot of it for you that kept you going of like, I know I can do this because

I see him doing it.

I know I'm going to be able to do that.

So definitely I think that and then just also understanding that anything good is going

to come with pushback and struggle.

Anything I've ever done worth accomplishing was massive pushback, massive struggle.

So what do you think took you from there to here because there's a lot of people that

did VIP.

Yeah.

That never reached the levels that you've reached, right?

And there's there's few people that don't VIP and reach the levels that you've reached.

But what do you think separated you from?

Okay, there's all these people that in their first three months, they had more success

than you.

Yeah.

But over their first three years, very minimal, ever have as much success as you have.

So what was that transition?

What do you think?

Change that gap.

It's that simple.

It's because I didn't and I had to prove to myself.

It was just about proving it to myself that I could do it.

It wasn't about the money anymore.

It wasn't about, oh, I want to do this much production because I can or because I'm talented.

Clearly, I wasn't talented when I first started, you know.

But at the end of the day, I just, it was something internal inside of me.

I have to prove myself to this.

Now I might ask you the same question, but you know, Andre has a top producer.

I know what you can do.

You know, you 50,000 in your sleep, you know, you could do that if you want to at any

time.

What made you choose to not just do your own thing and to want to build a team of people?

Well, like what you said, too, you know, you want to change lives and we would do want

to share this opportunity because there's so many people that are doing the same thing

over and over for a paycheck and never get to level up their life, right?

They love exposure, especially.

We have a new guy on our team that we recruited from shoe palace.

We took him to his first daycouse at 19 years old.

Yeah.

He had a photo, actually.

Don't that feel good?

I love sharing photos with people like that.

So good.

And like, he just made a sale yesterday.

He was at the rooftop.

He was dancing.

And he was dancing on camera the first sale.

He made before that.

And like, that makes my heart feel so good.

Like, so good.

I would, I talked to him about all the time, you know, he's so humble, he's so grateful.

And when you can change someone's life like, like, like, like, like that,

it's an amazing feeling, right?

And so for me, I knew, okay, the grind is there.

I can go, I can check in, I can work all my hours.

And that's cool.

That's good money.

But then what if I can also reproduce myself and duplicate share this opportunity

and help people make money?

They don't even think of ever making it feel so that feels so much better.

What about you?

You know, I remember we walk miles and miles.

Oh, man.

That seemed like yesterday.

So he hit the hundred thousand.

I have him come to my new house, like one of the only people I let my new brand new house.

And he's in the house.

How are you doing?

You know, like, we had a heart.

And me and him went walking in my head.

I'm thinking my goal of the walk is to make sure he knows he's appreciated that I appreciate

him.

And the second goal was for him to commit to going crushing some leadership because I

knew he could kill it and leadership.

He fought me the whole time.

Like, I'm going to do leadership.

But I want to be the number one producer and I can't let it go.

And I've seen you transition to like, I don't know if I don't know there's not been that

many people maybe on the hand of a couple.

We'll see how the year ends.

But as a first year MGA, I haven't seen that many people in my career start out this fast

in leadership.

So what changed there from our walk of like, I'm holding on to being a top producer, you

know, the team thing we can do some of that to like, all right, my team is thriving and

it seems like you're finding a lot of joy in that.

Man, it was exactly, it was one of the many amazing piece of wisdom you've given me.

And it was on that walk.

Maybe I didn't register it at the time.

But when I was reflecting on it, obviously what you said of if you want to go far, go

together, if you want to go fast, go alone, right?

You told him that.

Thank you.

Yeah, that was the same thing.

That was literally it.

You know, it really just came down to knowing how far we can go if I just, you know, stop

really being selfish and only worrying about me and, you know, just trying to be number

one.

A lot of it is ego, really too.

You know, knowing that I want to duplicate myself and other people, if I've been blessed

with the skill set and the knowledge to be able to do this, let me past bless this on

others and how much more blessed I'll be to be able to serve other people and, you know,

constantly pouring them.

And just a lot about the purpose too.

Like, I was talking with someone before of like becoming the source of what you seek.

So if I need motivation, I want to know the best thing I could do if I need motivation.

I'm going to call someone and motivate them.

So whatever you need, you give it away.

Yeah.

Fire.

And I just dedicated my life to I'm just going to give everything away.

Fire.

Give away the knowledge, give away everything and how much more purpose I feel in this opportunity.

Same thing goes for love and money and all that.

Exactly.

Yeah, man.

No, most definitely.

So I think just basically exactly what you told me, you know, I wanted to go far with

this thing.

I wanted to really build something.

And, you know, I just, I couldn't keep seeing it with myself.

Like, I just, something was fighting me about it, knowing that I was destined to do bigger

things with a bunch of people rather than just be selfish.

So we got two minutes left.

Do you guys want to off the top shoot a couple things at me?

Coach, when you're coming across someone, maybe, you know, a young man, woman, whatever

the case is.

And you want to mentor them.

What are some things that you look for in that person?

Competitiveness, coachability, ambition.

You know, I think if I got somebody that's ambitious, that wants to do big things.

And there, I could tell that they would listen, that they're hungry for being coached.

And that got a little bit of a competitive spirit.

You know, I think that's where I know like, all right, that person is capable of doing

all that I would like to pour into them in order to do.

You know, and some people will have one of those things or two of those things.

But if you could find somebody with all three of those things, those things, that seems

like a good start.

You know, it's crazy you asked that because do you remember the first time I messaged you?

No.

No?

Okay.

It was on Instagram and I sent you this long, long, long passage.

Yeah, vaguely.

This is a long message and I just remember pouring my heart out into that message.

Yeah.

And like, it fills all those boxes.

Like, I'm not trying to do my own homework.

But like, I was ambitious and I knew I was going to be competitive.

And I had told you that, like, I just need the opportunity to have a map.

It's not it.

Yep.

And it's just crazy to say that because that is who you are.

You know, three, four, going on five years.

Let me ask you as a boss lady in the deal.

What do you think that you like or that you've seen that you like about our culture?

Even if there's things that, you know, there's always things that we could grow in.

But what do you think sticks out to you about our culture?

Definitely the loyalty.

And I'm going to say that word for sure.

Because between you, Maddie D, J.A. Brody being the solid foundation and you guys having

the relationship and the loyalty amongst each other.

You spread that towards your leaders, right?

Yeah.

And you teach that.

But then we watch you really.

Like, I love when you guys come down here and you guys are also different.

Actually, that was my first time getting to really like hang with Brody and Katie.

But just seeing the way you guys are together, right?

And that creates a good momentum for the rest of us trying to be like you.

And I love it because I feel like everybody's getting more mature.

Everybody's getting older.

Yeah.

And we've got the engagements going on.

And I know everybody looks up to you ultimately because everybody can make all this money, you

know?

But just the loyalty and the, that part of the culture where even though we're all on

different teams, the competitiveness, there's no bad competition.

It's my favorite part of the deal, you know, outside of the business is that I get to watch

people come in, change their life and then grow up, get engaged, get married, have kids,

put by a nice house.

You know, it's like I get to be a part of that.

You know, it's like being a part of Christmas, again, you know, as a kid, you know, the main

is like, man, I, you know, Santa Claus and I get to see it through my kids eyes and watch

them open up gifts and I know it's getting ready to happen.

You know, it's like it just don't happen as fast, but I'm watching you and I'm like dude,

in three more years, I can't wait to watch this.

You know what I mean?

And it's super cool to be a part of.

Would you say that this is your tightest group in your career, all of us here?

100% yeah.

The tightest group, the most loyal group, the tightest culture, best culture we've ever

had before, praise the Lord.

Love it.

And this is time, you know.

Lord you got.

Imagine if you quit.

10 years ago, 12 years ago, 15, we would have been here.

We know one would be.

Hey man, what are you, what are some of the biggest things that you think drive the culture

of any organization?

Like the leaders, you know, sets the pace.

But I think the captains in that locker room really set the pace.

There's only so much that a coach could do if the captains in the locker room don't take

that culture and run with it.

So I think it starts with the leader's vision, but it really only gets executed and taken

to a championship level if the captains in that locker room take it.

And I think you have a really, you know, I've heard somebody say, man, if the best players

in the organization or the best player on your sports team, if they're also a really

good person, you got a really good chance of being special.

And I think where I've gotten lucky, you know, right now is that the best players in our

organization are such good people.

And that, you know, that if they start to drive that message, that culture, you know, I've

tried to spread the mind body spirit, you know, thing for years and years and years, and

I to watch the leaders in the organization take it serious and then watch it pass on.

This is what was the dream and the vision, you know, the whole time.

It's crazy to say that we just got he just got done watching Great Iron Gang for the

first time.

Remember with the rock, taking all those, remember that one?

All those kids and the gang members, right?

And even when the rock failed them and was just, you know, dogging them and they weren't

going to do it, but then they had juniors that some one kid that was like out there, you

know, and when you got the captain's, yeah, no doubt.

And then based off the culture, too, I know you said building a culture based off of loyalty

and competitiveness, that's something I've implemented.

Why do you say that though?

I think if someone's competitive, then it keeps them, you know, driven outside of money.

And you're going to have purpose, but you could be competitive of how many people's lives

do I want to change?

You know, you could be competitive on, you know, how much money do I want to donate?

You could be competitive as I want my youth program that makes me no money to be the best youth

program.

It's like if you got that competitive spirit, then you can kind of, it helps you to not make

it all about the money in it.

It seems to me like it keeps a person motivated because you got to be self-motivated in

the business.

And I think the easiest way to be self-motivated is to be competitive, even if it's

what you're self.

Like I heard in the first couple sentences, you know, you saying, well, I said if his

ass could do it, I know that's competitiveness.

You know what I mean?

She went back to her first message to me there was competitiveness, you know, in there.

And so I think just watching the people that had this success, had competitiveness as a

main trait.

And then the loyalty, you know, loyalty comes before royalties.

And that you really can't build with, you can't build anything on a foundation that isn't

solid.

And then you get the foundation of any relationship is loyalty.

You know, if we don't have loyalty, we don't got nothing, you know what I mean?

And so that goes for your marriage and it goes for your business.

And so many things carry over from marriage to business is so much of business is similar

to marriage and so many things and marriage are similar, you know, to business with the

main foundation being, you know, loyalty.

And it goes both ways.

You know, I don't expect everybody to be loyal to me and me to not be loyal to anybody.

You know what I mean?

And vice versa, you know, so I think if you got the foundation of loyalty to where we can

trust one another, you know, that you don't have to look over your shoulder and I don't

have to look over my shoulder of like, oh man, can I trust this person?

You know, my waist and my time with this person because they're going to be looking to the

left and looking to the right or you know, whatever it is, can I be myself, you know, a little

bit then you can kind of move at a faster pace if you trust, you know, in one another.

So, fire.

Huge.

100%.

We got for today.

Right now.

That was fire.

That is it.